Purpose The Gas Turbine (GT) systems comprise two Turbec T100 Microturbines: series 1 and series 3. Both turbines are CHP units integrating the T100 power module generating around a 100kW of electrical power with an exhaust gas heat exchanger generating and additional 170kW of thermal power with an overall efficiency of 77%. The turbines normally operated on 330kW of natural gas, but the use of fuels such as biogas, syngas, diesel, kerosene, methanol, LPC is also possible enabling research on alternative fuels. The exhaust from the heat exchanger is connected to the onsite Solvent-based Carbon Capture Plant. This enables research into post-combustion carbon capture from gas turbine based power generation. The concentration of CO2 in the GT flue gases is typically low (1.5%-6%. This affects the economic and technical viability of the carbon capture process. PACT is developing an Exhaust Gas Recycling system for the turbines (GT-EGR) to increase the CO2 concentration in the flue gas for carbon capture applications. Furthermore PACT is also looking at Humid Air Turbine Cycle to also enhance efficiency
Installations
- The Turbec T100 micro gas turbine is highly instrumented to allow monitoring of the whole gas turbine cycle (temperatures, pressures, etc.), including extensive emissions analysis from the exhaust
- Conventionally fueled by natural gas, conversions are in place to fire a range of other fuels, including biogas
- The system comprises of a single-stage centrifugal compressor (with a pressure ratio of 4.5:1), a lean, pre-mixed combustion chamber and a single-stage radial turbine
- The generator and shaft rotate at up to 70,000 rpm to generate high-frequency electricity that is exported to the grid
- The counter-current water-gas heat exchanger is used to recover thermal energy; overall, the system has an electrical output of100 kW, with a thermal output of 165 kW (electrical efficiency ~30%; total efficiency ~80 %)
- The significant dilution ensures high combustion efficiencies and low levels of emissions (CO, NOx, etc.)
- The system has been modified to include exhaust gas recycle (EGR & Selective EGR), by which CO2 injections enable the examination of the impacts of recycling the exhaust gases on the combustion system, efficiency and emissions under different operating conditions
- Post-combustion CO2 capture research from the turbine system is available, since the flue gas pathway is integrated into the on-site capture systems
- Fuel flexibility research means that we are also investigating including hydrogen blending and other sustainable alternative fuels into our system
State of the Art, uniqueness & specific advantages
Fully integrated system with Carbon Capture plant Extensive analytical capability
Scientific Environment
The turbines are normally operated one a time via a change over switch.
